The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was formed on October 18, 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers including Marconi. Daily broadcasting by the BBC began in Marconi’s London studio, 2LO, in the Strand, on November 14, 1922. This was followed the next day by broadcasts from Birmingham and Manchester. In December 1922 33-year-old Scottish engineer, John Reith was appointed General Manager of the BBC. In the early days news only aired after 7 pm so as not to upset sales of newspapers. [1, 2]
“Listening in” to the wireless in the United Kingdom quickly became a social and cultural phenomenon as the BBC in London and regional stations around the country gave birth to a new form of mass communication.” The speech of King George V was first heard on radio during a broadcast from the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley (which was made into a 2010 movie). By 1939, 98% of the Britain’s population could listen in to the BBC’s radio services. The public had been conditioned to tune into the radio for news.
What was not known was the BBC ran cover for the establishment, not actually being impartial.
In 1927 the British Broadcasting Company became the British Broadcasting Corporation when it was granted its first Royal Charter and John Reith was knighted. The Charter defines the BBC’s objectives, powers and obligations of which the ” BBC is answerable to the BBC Board of Governors who are appointed to act as trustees for the public interest and to ensure that the organisation is properly accountable while maintaining its independence…The Governors are appointed by the Queen in Council (the Privy Council) on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.” [3]
On November 2, 1936 the BBC began television broadcasting with only a few thousand homes equiped and close enough to view it, though the accessibility developed rapidly between 1936 and 1939. [4]
On September 1, 1939, two days before WW II broke out, “a Mickey Mouse cartoon was being shown when the television service was suddenly blacked out for defence reasons. It was feared that the transmitters could have provided navigational aid for enemy aircraft. That same Mickey Mouse cartoon was shown on June 7, 1946 when BBC television re-opened. The Victory Parade was televised the next day.” [5]
The media is powerful. A few months before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the BBC led the Trusted News Initiative, to be the gatekeeper of “truth”.